To
Shri Kiren Rijiju,
Hon. Minister of Law and Justice,
Government of India
Dear Shri Rijiju,
We are a group of former civil servants of the All India and Central Services who have worked with the Central and State Governments in the course of our careers. As a group, we have no affiliation with any political party but believe in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution of India.
You would be aware that Art. 22(4) of the Constitution of India was amended by the Constitution (Forty Fourth Amendment) Act, 1978. S. 3 of this amendment Act provides that the Advisory Board, to be constituted for examining the justification for preventive detention under this Article, is to be appointed in accordance with the recommendation of the Chief Justice of the High Court; it is to be headed by a sitting judge of that High Court and have at least two serving/former judges of any High Court as members of the Board. The said S. 3 also deleted Art 22(7)(a) of the Constitution, thereby deleting the provision authorizing preventive detention without obtaining the opinion of an Advisory Board.
These amendments were meant to curtail the arbitrary power of governments to appoint on the Advisory Board any person qualified to be a judge of a High Court, and to ensure that no preventive detentions could be made, or continued, without obtaining the opinion of the Advisory Board within 2 months of the detention. These provisions have yet to come into force since a notification to give effect to S. 3 of the 44th Constitutional Amendment has not been issued.
At present, any advocate who is qualified to be a judge of a High Court, can be appointed to the Advisory Board. In effect, any advocate with ten years or more of practice can sit on an Advisory Board. This provision is, thus, vulnerable to abuse by governments which, instead of appointing neutral, independent members to the Board, may appoint persons of their choice, including those owing allegiance to the political party in power.
A look at the Objects and Reasons of the Constitution (Forty Fourth Amendment) Act, 1978 explains why Parliament, soon after the experience of the Emergency of 1975-77, considered it necessary to check arbitrary preventive detentions. Para 1 of the Objects and Reasons is cited below:
“Recent experience has shown that the fundamental rights, including
those of life and liberty, granted to citizens by the Constitution are
capable of being taken away by a transient majority. It is,
therefore, necessary to provide adequate safeguards against the
recurrence of such a contingency in the future and to ensure to the
people themselves an effective voice in determining the form of
government under which they are to live. This is one of the primary
objects of this Bill.”
Successive Union Governments have, however, failed to notify any date for the coming into force of this Constitutional Amendment that was passed by Parliament as far back as 1978. It is not open to the Government of India to sit in judgment over the wisdom of Parliament, which was convinced of the necessity of amending Clause (4)(a) and deleting Clause (7)(a) of Article 22 through the Constitution (Forty Fourth Amendment) Act, 1978.
The provision empowering the Government of India to notify the dates for the coming into force of different provisions of the Constitution (Forty Fourth Amendment) Act was intended to give the government some flexibility in this regard. It will be a travesty if this provision is conveniently used by the government to negate the legislative intent by refusing to notify the date of coming into effect of the Constitution (Forty Fourth Amendment) Act. The unconscionable delay of 43 years in the issue of this notification has resulted in a brazen abuse of preventive detention laws in gross violation of human rights and a progressive erosion of our cherished democratic values.
We, therefore, urge the Government of India to forthwith notify a date for the coming into force of S. 3 of the Constitution (Forty Fourth Amendment) Act, 1978.
SATYAMEVA JAYATE
Yours sincerely,
Constitutional Conduct Group
(100 signatories, as below)
| Salahuddin Ahmad | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan | |
| 1 | S.P. Ambrose | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI |
| 2 | Anand Arni | RAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 3 | M.D. Asthana | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Adviser, Planning Commission, GoI |
| 4 | G. Balachandhran | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 5 | Vappala Balachandran | IPS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 6 | Gopalan Balagopal | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 7 | Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Coal, GoI |
| 8 | Rana Banerji | RAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 9 | T.K. Banerji | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Union Public Service Commission |
| 10 | Sharad Behar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 11 | Aurobindo Behera | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha |
| 12 | Madhu Bhaduri | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Portugal |
| 13 | Pradip Bhattacharya | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Development & Planning and Administrative Training Institute, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 14 | Meeran C Borwankar | IPS (Retd.) | Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoI |
| 15 | Ravi Budhiraja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI |
| 16 | Sundar Burra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 17 | R. Chandramohan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi |
| 18 | Rachel Chatterjee | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh |
| 19 | Kalyani Chaudhuri | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 20 | Gurjit Singh Cheema | IAS (Retd.) | Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of Punjab |
| 21 | F.T.R. Colaso | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka & former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir |
| 22 | Anna Dani | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 23 | Vibha Puri Das | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI |
| 24 | P.R. Dasgupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI |
| 25 | Pradeep K. Deb | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI |
| 26 | Nitin Desai | Former Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI | |
| 27 | M.G. Devasahayam | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana |
| 28 | Sushil Dubey | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Sweden |
| 29 | A.S. Dulat | IPS (Retd.) | Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI |
| 30 | K.P. Fabian | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Italy |
| 31 | Prabhu Ghate | IAS (Retd.) | Former Addl. Director General, Department of Tourism, GoI |
| 32 | Gourisankar Ghosh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water Mission, GoI |
| 33 | Suresh K. Goel | IFS (Retd.) | Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI |
| 34 | S.K. Guha | IAS (Retd.) | Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI |
| 35 | Meena Gupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI |
| 36 | Ravi Vira Gupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India |
| 37 | Wajahat Habibullah | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, GoI and former Chief Information Commissioner |
| 38 | Sajjad Hassan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur |
| 39 | Siraj Hussain | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Agriculture, GoI |
| 40 | Kamal Jaswal | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI |
| 41 | Vinod C. Khanna | IFS (Retd.) | Former Additional Secretary, MEA, GoI |
| 42 | Dhirendra Krishna | IA&AS (Retd.) | Former Financial Controller, Irrigation Department, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh |
| 43 | Brijesh Kumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI |
| 44 | Ish Kumar | IPS (Retd.) | Former DGP (Vigilance & Enforcement), Govt. of Telangana and former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission |
| 45 | Sudhir Kumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal |
| 46 | Subodh Lal | IPoS (Resigned) | Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI |
| 47 | B.B. Mahajan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Deptt. of Food, GoI |
| 48 | P.M.S. Malik | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Myanmar & Special Secretary, MEA, GoI |
| 49 | Harsh Mander | IAS (Retd.) | Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 50 | Aditi Mehta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan |
| 51 | Sonalini Mirchandani | IFS (Resigned) | GoI |
| 52 | Sunil Mitra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI |
| 53 | Avinash Mohananey | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim |
| 54 | Satya Narayan Mohanty | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission |
| 55 | Jugal Mohapatra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Rural Development, GoI |
| 56 | Deb Mukharji | IFS (Retd.) | Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal |
| 57 | Gautam Mukhopadhaya | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Myanmar |
| 58 | T.K.A. Nair | IAS (Retd.) | Former Adviser to Prime Minister of India |
| 59 | Surendra Nath | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Finance Commission, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 60 | P. Joy Oommen | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh |
| 61 | Amitabha Pande | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI |
| 62 | P. R. Parthasarathy | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director, Anti-Corruption Bureau, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 63 | Maxwell Pereira | IPS (Retd.) | Former Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi |
| 64 | Alok Perti | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI |
| 65 | G.K. Pillai | IAS (Retd.) | Former Home Secretary, GoI |
| 66 | Rajesh Prasad | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to the Netherlands |
| 67 | Sharda Prasad | IAS (Retd.) | Former Director General (Employment and Training), Ministry of Labour and Employment, GoI |
| 68 | Rajdeep Puri | IRS (Resigned) | Former Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, GoI |
| 69 | N.K. Raghupathy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI |
| 70 | V.P. Raja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission |
| 71 | C. Babu Rajeev | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, GoI |
| 72 | K. Sujatha Rao | IAS (Retd.) | Former Health Secretary, GoI |
| 73 | Vijaya Latha Reddy | IFS (Retd.) | Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI |
| 74 | Julio Ribeiro | IPS (Retd.) | Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to Romania |
| 75 | Aruna Roy | IAS (Resigned) | |
| 76 | Manabendra N. Roy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 77 | A.K. Samanta | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West Bengal |
| 78 | Deepak Sanan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
| 79 | G. Sankaran | IC&CES (Retd.) | Former President, Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal |
| 80 | Shyam Saran | IFS (Retd.) | Former Foreign Secretary and Former Chairman, National Security Advisory Board |
| 81 | S. Satyabhama | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI |
| 82 | N.C. Saxena | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI |
| 83 | Ardhendu Sen | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 84 | Abhijit Sengupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI |
| 85 | Aftab Seth | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Japan |
| 86 | Ashok Kumar Sharma | IFoS (Retd.) | Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat |
| 87 | Ashok Kumar Sharma | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia |
| 88 | Navrekha Sharma | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Indonesia |
| 89 | Pravesh Sharma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 90 | Raju Sharma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh |
| 91 | Rashmi Shukla Sharma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 92 | Sujatha Singh | IFS (Retd.) | Former Foreign Secretary, GoI |
| 93 | Tara Ajai Singh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka |
| 94 | Tirlochan Singh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI |
| 95 | Narendra Sisodia | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI |
| 96 | Anup Thakur | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission |
| 97 | Hindal Tyabji | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir |
| 98 | Ramani Venkatesan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 99 | Rudi Warjri | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica |
